World news in pictures

World news in pictures

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5 December 2016

The sun rises behind skyscrapers amidst the clouds on a foggy morning in Dubai

Getty

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5 December 2016

An Iraqi soldier gestures as he steps on the head of the dead body of who Iraqi forces say was an Islamic State militant, in Shayyalah al-Imam near Mosul

Reuters

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5 December 2016

A man checks the damage at a medical clinic following overnight government air strikes on the town of Binnish, in Syria's northwestern Idlib province

Getty

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5 December 2016

A quarantine official disinfects a road leading to a chicken farm in Pyeongtaek, west of Seoul, South Korea. A suspected case of avian influenza was reported at the farm

EPA

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5 December 2016

Rescue workers stand beside the bodies of the victims following a fire at a local hotel, at a hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

EPA

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5 December 2016

Iraqis ride bicycles between Baghdad's Abu Nawas street and the suspension bridge in the capital's Karrada district during an event calling for peace and the eradication of the Islamic State (IS) group

Getty

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5 December 2016

Iraqis gather prior to cycling between Baghdad's Abu Nawas street and the suspension bridge in the capital's Karrada district during an event calling for peace and the eradication of the Islamic State (IS) group

Getty

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5 December 2016

The bust of the late President Park Chung-hee is seen spray painted in a park in Seoul, South Korea. The bust was vandalized in an apparent anonymous act of discontent with his daughter and incumbent President Park Geun-hye who is suspected of having been involved in an unprecedented corruption scandal. The grafitti reads 'Order of Removal'

EPA

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4 December 2016

Young people march around the Plaza de la Revolucion and chant 'Yo soy Fidel,' 'I am Fidel' in English, before the arrival of the remains of former Cuban President Fidel Castro during on their four-day journey across the country in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Getty

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4 December 2016

The urn with the ashes of Cuban leader Fidel Castro leaves Revolution Square in Santiago, Cuba on its way to the cemetery

Getty

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4 December 2016

A Honduran soldier confronts fans of Real Espana football team following clashes after Platense qualified for the Honduran Tournament final, outside the Municipal Excelsior stadium in Puerto Cortes, 260 kms north of Tegucigalpa

Getty

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4 December 2016

People take part in a nation-wide protest against corruption at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Getty

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4 December 2016

Demonstrators protest along Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil against corruption and in support of the Lava Jato anti-corruption operation that investigates the bribes scandal of Petrobras

Getty

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4 December 2016

Cuban President Raul Castro places the urn with the ashes of his brother Fidel Castro in his tomb at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago de Cuba

Getty

“Interpol, guided by the best set of principles and mechanisms to date, has made a significant contribution to promoting international police cooperation," he added.

“Interpol should continue to adhere to these principles and strategies, while further innovating our work mechanisms, in order to adapt to the changing security situation we see today."

Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged a four-year campaign against corruption, which includes a push to return former officials and other suspects who fled abroad.

China filed a list of 100 of its most-wanted suspects with Interpol in April 2014, about one third of which have since been repatriated.

The country's police and judicial systems have been routinely criticised for abuses, including eliciting confessions under torture and the disappearance and detention without charges of political dissidents and their family members.

Many Western nations have been reluctant to sign extradition treaties with china or return suspects wanted for non-violent crimes.

Given those circumstances, Mr Meng's election is an "alarming prospect", said Maya Wang, Hong Kong-based researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"While we think it's important to fight corruption, the campaign has been politicised and undermines judicial independence," Ms Wang added.

Mr Meng's election "will probably embolden and encourage abuses in the system," she said, citing recent reports of close Chinese ally Russia's use of Interpol to attack President Vladimir Putin's political opponents.

This is extraordinarily worrying given China's longstanding practice of trying to use Interpol to arrest dissidents and refugees abroad. https://t.co/28VHAvpjHL

"This is extraordinarily worrying given China's longstanding practice of trying to use Interpol to arrest dissidents and refugees abroad," Nicholas Bequelin, east Asia director at Amnesty International wrote on Twitter.

The organisation has the power to issue "red notices," the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today.

While Interpol's charter officially bars it from undertaking "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character," critics say some governments, primarily Russia and Iran, have abused the system to harass and detain opponents of their regime.

Interpol says it has a special voting process to prevent such abuses.

Along the election of Mr Meng, Interpol also approved a call for the "systematic collection and recording of biometric information as part of terrorist profiles" shared by the organisation.